Traffic control systems regulate the flow of traffic through intersections. Generally, traffic signals, comprising different color and/or shapes of lights, are mounted on poles or span wires at the intersection. These traffic signals are used to regulate the movement of traffic through the intersection by turning on and off their different signal lights. These signals, together with the equipment that turns on and off their different lights, comprise a traffic control system. The change in the color of lightings is typically performed according to a pre-set traffic control settings that specify duration of each color at one or more entry/exit points at an intersection.
With advancements in traffic control systems, some of these systems utilize inductive loops installed at one or more locations at the intersection to detect the presence of a vehicle and actuate the light changes. For example, if a vehicle is detected stopping at a red light at an intersection in one direction while no other car is detected as traveling through other entry/exit points of the intersection with a green light, the traffic control system can switch the green light to red while turning the red light for the stopped vehicle to green in order to allow the stopped vehicle to proceed through the intersection.
Utilization of such inductive loops are costly and require manual modification to road surfaces at the intersection. Furthermore, their accuracy can degrade over time and due to varying environmental conditions. Lastly, these inductive loops cannot differentiate the number and/or types of vehicles activating them. For example, if at a given point in time 3 vehicles are stopped on one side of the intersection and 8 vehicles at another, standard inductive loops do not trigger a change in the lighting pattern in favor of the 8 vehicles.